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Posted January 26, 2012 03:02 pm

Ohio State receiver DeVier Posey needed a strong Senior Bowl week after being suspended most of the 2011 season

DeVier Posey, a receiver out of Ohio State, was one of the players infamously suspended for accepting cash and tattoos from a local tattoo shop owner. The school suspended him five games, then the NCAA added five more for being overpaid for a job.

That meant Posey only played in three games during the 2011 season, one of them the Gator Bowl, giving NFL scouts few opportunities to see what he could do. Posey has had a good week at the Senior Bowl and he also has an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine next month to impress teams.

He met with the Jaguars earlier this week.

- You seem to be doing well this week, did you feel that way?

Yeah I feel like it’s going pretty well. Without 10 games, I feel like I wanted to come out and show them I could still move and run routes and you know be sharp in the film room and come out with a business-like attitude.

- How did you make sure you stayed in football shape?

I was on the practice squad, scout team, running quarterback, whatever my team wanted me to do. I would do these workouts on Thursday and Friday when the team would go to the hotel. I would run full-speed routes and do a two-minute drill by myself. I don’t know, just to keep myself in shape. Watch film with the young guys, make sure I’m in every meeting on time as if I were playing. I just kind of treated it like a redshirt year I didn’t want to be apart from my team because team is what got me through.

- How did they help?

The worst part for me was when they went to the hotel and on Saturdays when I was by myself. But Sundays I was allowed to be around the guys and hang out with them. It was always easier to be in a better mood. Understand who I’m grinding for and who I’m going through the suspension for, it was those guys.

- How did you react when each of the suspensions came down?

It’s not the worst thing that’s going to happen to me. To be honest, I just had to miss 10 games. It hurt. I love football, but for the most part I really felt like I just tried to approach it with a humble attitude really. Try to take the situation for what it was. Couldn’t deal with hypothetical situations, I had to deal with what was on my plate.

- Did you worry it would hurt you in the pre-draft process?

I worried, I thought about it. It was definitely a thought in my mind but for the most part I was able to come back those three games and obviously I ended up here with an invite to the combine. That’s all you can ask for is a chance. Hopefully I can take advantage of it.

- What are teams asking about the suspensions?

They definitely want to know about it. When they look and dig deep they won’t find any failed drug tests, they won’t find any DUIs, they won’t find any arrests, no academic suspensions, so I really feel like this one blemish on my career was something that I did wrong, something that I paid a lot of consequences for and a lot of other people had to as well but I feel like I learned so much from it. hopefully that could steer me away from those other mistake.

- Your teammates seemed to think your punishment was unfair. Did you?

A bunch of guys felt that way, but the mfeeling that way, I think I got a lot of compliments from guys on the team about how I handled it. They didn’t really see the things behind the doors when I wasn’t with them. When I was with them I was trying to be humble, go in there with an attitude in the facility like it didn’t matter and iw as just here to serve those guys. I felt like with me doing that, it was easier for them to handle the situation.

- What are your strengths?

Just my intangibles. I feel like if a receiver told you their abilities on the field, their strengths, I think they would be lying. You have to work every day at your craft and get better. I think things that I bring to the table are my leadership skills, wanting to be a winner, wanting to be perfect every day, I think those are my strengths.

- What do you need to work on the most?

Just everything, all phases of my game. I really don’t feel like I’m close to my potential. Hopefully at the next level I can master all my fundamentals.

- Did you talk to the Jaguars? How did that go?

Yes I talked to the jaguars earlier in the week. They sounded like they’re looking for receivers so we’ll see how it goes.